HOW TO WRITE AN INVOICE
How to write an invoice that gets paid on time
What goes on an invoice, in what order, with a worked example — the painting job from our quote guide, billed — plus free Word and PDF invoice templates for five trades and the habits that get invoices paid faster.
Worked example · Line by line · Free trade templates
The short answer
An invoice is the bill: a request for payment for work you've done or goods you've supplied. It needs the word Invoice at the top, your business details, the customer's, an invoice number that never repeats, the date and a due date, every charge on its own line, materials, tax where it applies, the total, any deposit already paid, the balance due, and how to pay.
If the job started with a quote, the invoice is the quote with three changes: the date the work was done, the deposit taken off, and “Balance due” in bold where “Total” used to be. The lines stay the same, so the customer sees they got exactly what they accepted.
Send it the day the job finishes. Invoices sent the same day get paid sooner than invoices sent at the end of the week, and a customer who has just watched you finish is at their happiest to pay.
WORKED EXAMPLE
The same job, invoiced
Harbor Coat Painting's quote from the previous page — a fictional business — once the work was done: the same lines, the deposit taken off, and the balance due in bold. Every line is explained below.
Example · fictional business
Harbor Coat Painting Portland, ME (207) 555-0164 · hello@harborcoat.example | INVOICE |
Bill to Elena Marsh 42 Ocean Ave Portland, ME | Job Interior repaint: living room, hallway, two bedrooms 42 Ocean Ave · walls, trim and the living-room ceiling Completed Oct 14–16, 2026 |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prep Patch and sand, caulk, mask floors and fixtures | 1 | $380.00 | $380.00 |
| Painting — labor Two coats on walls and trim, four rooms | 1 | $1,650.00 | $1,650.00 |
| Living-room ceiling One coat, flat white | 1 | $240.00 | $240.00 |
| Paint and materials 6 gal premium interior eggshell, primer, caulk, tape | 1 | $412.50 | $412.50 |
| Subtotal | $2,682.50 | ||
| Sales tax, 7% on materials (example) | $28.88 | ||
| Total | $2,711.38 | ||
| Deposit received, Oct 6 | −$800.00 | ||
| Balance due | $1,911.38 | ||
Payment terms
Due within 14 days. Pay by card, check or bank transfer. Thank you for your business.
Warranty
Workmanship guaranteed for 2 years: if paint we applied peels or flakes, we fix it free.
Every figure on the example is an example, not a price guide. Want a template to fill in? The free Word and PDF invoice templates are on the trade pages linked below — plumbing, handyman, cleaning, junk removal and car detailing — each shaped for its trade.
Invoices and a website, one place
Start your website — invoicing is built in
Add what you do, your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. The same dashboard sends invoices like this one, with a pay-now button once you're on a paid plan.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
LINE BY LINE
What goes on an invoice
Every line on the example, in order, and what to write on it.
| The line | What to put there |
|---|---|
| The word Invoice | At the top, big enough that nobody files it as a quote or a receipt. If you're registered for GST in Australia, the words are Tax Invoice. |
| Your business details | Business name, address, phone, email, website — and your license number if your trade is licensed, and your tax number where your country needs it on invoices (an ABN in Australia, a VAT number in the UK and EU). |
| Invoice number, date and due date | A number that never repeats (1041, 1042…), the date you send it, and the date payment is due. Fourteen days is common for homeowners, thirty for property managers and businesses. If a quote came first, add its number. |
| Bill to, and the job address | Who pays and where you worked. For a rental, the landlord or the property manager often pays for work at a tenant's address — list both. |
| The job and when you did it | One line a customer would recognize, with the dates of the work. It's what they match against their memory and their calendar. |
| One line per charge | Each piece of work on its own line with its price — the same lines as the quote, if there was one. A single “services rendered” line is the one customers question. |
| Materials | What you supplied, as one line or itemized, with the brand or model of the big items. Keep materials and labor apart. |
| Tax, total, deposit and balance due | Subtotal, tax where it applies, the total, any deposit already paid as a minus line, and the balance due in bold. In the US, whether sales tax applies to your work — and whether it falls on the materials, the labor, both or neither — depends on your state, so keep materials and labor on separate lines and check your state's revenue department or your accountant. |
| Payment terms and how to pay | The due date in words, how to pay (card, bank transfer, check), and any late fee you agreed in writing before the job. A pay-now button or a link beats a bank account number typed into an email. |
| Warranty or guarantee | How long your work is covered. It's the line that turns a callback into a warranty visit instead of an argument — and it's why customers call you again. |
STEP BY STEP
How to write an invoice
Five minutes at the end of the job, before you leave the driveway.
Save your details once
Business name, contact details, license number and tax number where it's needed — at the top of the template, saved, so every invoice starts filled in.
Number and date it
The next number in your series, today's date, a due date the customer can see, and the quote number if there was one.
Add the customer and the job
Who pays, where you worked, and the dates of the work in one line.
List every charge on its own line
The same lines as the quote: each piece of work with its price, then materials. Add anything the customer agreed to on the day as its own line.
Total it, take off the deposit
Tax where your state charges it, the total, the deposit as a minus line, and the balance due in bold.
Write the terms and send it the same day
How to pay, when it's due, your warranty. Email it before you leave, or hand over a printed copy and take the payment there.
How to get an invoice paid faster
Invoice on the day. The same day as the work, ideally before you leave. An invoice that arrives a week later competes with every other bill that arrived in between.
Make the lines match the quote. When the invoice is the quote plus a date and minus the deposit, there is nothing to query. If something changed on the day, it goes on its own line with a word of explanation — “extra coat, hallway, agreed on site”.
Give them a button, not a bank account. A pay-now link gets paid the same evening; a bank account number waits until the weekend. If you can't take cards, at least put the exact amount and your account details in the email, not only on the PDF.
Short due dates, polite reminders. Fourteen days for homeowners. The day after it's due, one friendly message with the invoice attached again. Most late payments are forgotten, not refused.
Put late fees in writing before the job. In the US, whether you can charge a late fee, and how much, depends on your state and on what the customer agreed to — so it belongs on your quote or terms before the work, not only on the overdue invoice.
Know the tax rules where you work. In the US, whether sales tax applies to your work — and whether it falls on the materials, the labor, both or neither — depends on your state, so keep materials and labor on separate lines and check your state's revenue department or your accountant. The invoice itself has rules: in Australia a GST-registered business issues a tax invoice showing its ABN, in New Zealand a GST-registered business shows its GST number, and in the UK and EU a VAT-registered business shows its VAT number and the VAT charged. Confirm the details with your accountant.
Use a trade template. Free Word and PDF invoice templates, each shaped for its trade and explained line by line: plumbing invoice template, handyman invoice template, cleaning invoice template, junk removal invoice template, car detailing invoice template.
Send it from Zarla and get paid online
A Word invoice is fine to start with. The slow part is what comes after: chasing the payment, remembering who's paid, and typing the same customer and the same lines again next month.
If your website is on Zarla, the invoice tool is in the same dashboard. Pick the customer, add the job's lines — or start from the quote the customer accepted, which Zarla has already drafted into an invoice — and send it. On a paid plan, with your Stripe account connected, the invoice carries a pay-now button: your customer pays online by card, and the invoice marks itself paid when the money arrives. Customers you've invoiced are saved, so next time is two taps, and the invoice wears the same design as your quotes: your logo, your colors, set once.
Next step: when the money lands, how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template, and the part Zarla does for you. Haven't quoted yet? Start with how to write a quote.
Writing an invoice: common questions
The word Invoice; your business details, license number and tax number where your country needs it; the customer and the job address; an invoice number that never repeats, the date and a due date; the job and the dates of the work; every charge on its own line; materials; tax where it applies; the total; any deposit already paid; the balance due; how to pay; and your warranty.
An invoice asks for payment; a receipt confirms you got it. The invoice goes out when the work is done and shows the balance due. The receipt goes out when the money arrives and shows the amount paid, the date and how they paid, with a balance of zero.
A quote is the price before the work — an offer, valid until a date. An invoice is the bill after the work — the same lines, with the dates of the work, any deposit taken off and the balance due. If the invoice doesn't match the quote, say what changed on its own line.
Any series that never repeats: 1001, 1002, 1003, or the year and a counter (2026-041). Never reuse a number, even for a cancelled invoice — write “cancelled” on it instead. Invoicing software numbers them for you.
The same day the work finishes, ideally before you leave. For recurring work (cleaning, lawn care, pool service) send it on the same date each month, or charge a card on file after each visit.
Fourteen days is common for homeowners, thirty for property managers and businesses; “due on completion” is normal for junk removal, detailing and other jobs paid on the spot. Whatever you choose, put the due date on the invoice in words, not just “Net 14”.
In the US, whether sales tax applies to your work — and whether it falls on the materials, the labor, both or neither — depends on your state, so keep materials and labor on separate lines and check your state's revenue department or your accountant. The invoice itself has rules: in Australia a GST-registered business issues a tax invoice showing its ABN, in New Zealand a GST-registered business shows its GST number, and in the UK and EU a VAT-registered business shows its VAT number and the VAT charged. Confirm the details with your accountant.
Only if the customer agreed to it before the job — on your quote, your terms or your booking confirmation. In the US, the limits depend on your state. A late fee that appears for the first time on an overdue invoice is the one that gets disputed, and rarely paid.
Not from a Word file — your customer still has to pay you some other way. To take the payment on the invoice itself, send it from invoicing software. If your website is on Zarla, the invoice tool is in the same dashboard. On a paid plan, with your Stripe account connected, the invoice carries a pay-now button: your customer pays online by card, and the invoice marks itself paid when the money arrives.
Send invoices from your own website
Add what you do, your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with quotes, invoices and receipts in the same dashboard.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.